Purchased some xotic carbon forks clearly advertised as 1 1/8

They arrived all shiny like 5 minutes work and tbey were cut to size, 5 minutes more work sfn installed 5 minutes after that old on one steel jobs out and crown race swapped over.

With the forplay over i gently slip it in…

Hole isnt big enough. Looking at it there is very slight thickening to the base of the steerer. Bugger.

Eyeballing would suggest its a 1×1/8+a bit

What is this new standard?!

Did the lower crown race fit on the fork Ok?

More info.

Installed headset is a hope and the steerer is bind on the inner diameter of the lower bearing.

FSA lowere bearing i have slips on fine so i can install the fork.

Rustymac. Yeah no problem infact it didnt even need a whack.

Further investigation would suggest that it’s the thickness of the aluminium on the lower cup portion in the frame thats fouling.

Are you sure the crown race is the right way round?

Solved. The cup had been removed once to often and there was a slight lip to the top edge. Filed it off all is golden.

Cheers guys panic over.

It’s normal for the steerer to be slightly thicker at the base- that’s why the crown race slips down over most if it easily then tightens at the bottom.

Alternative- has the Hope been transferred from another frame? Perhaps with a hammer and punch? I had to slightly machine out a Hope headset because it had deformed a little, there’s not much clearance between the headset cup and the fork steerer so it didn’t take much to cause problems. Not something I’ve ever had with any other headset but that could just be coincidence- it did seem a little soft.

<edit- god DAMN it. I’m still claiming the goal though>

Northwind, you are entirely correct.

Edit: Crediting Northwind with a confirmed kill.